Malfunction
by No Guns Only Roses
Summary: Donnie experiences a "bug" in his training simulation. But is it really a bug? Part of the "Mourning" storyline.


**This fic was heavily inspired by Mirage's story, "Old Times."**

"Chet, load training simulation. Midtown Manhattan."

 ** _Yes, Donatello._**

The white, clean empty room was transformed into a holographic Midtown Manhattan. Inspired by Professor Honeycutt, Donatello had built a Holo Trainer of his own. Whenever he was not inventing something for Morph Enterprises, he'd train and build up his stamina. Although he was not a ninja anymore, the urge to practice his ninjutsu had not yet gone away.

His computer, which he affectionately called 'Chet', controlled the program and loaded holographic projections for him to battle with.

 ** _Training Simulation Loaded_**

Donnie pulled out his bo staff and prepared himself.

Thirty holographic Footbots appeared and came at him with their weapons drawn out. As usual, he easily defeated them in under four minutes.

"This is hardly a challenge," Donnie muttered under his breath.

Seconds later, Tiger Claw, Fishface, and Rahzar appeared and charged at the cyborg Turtle. One by one, they fell (or the technical term would be, 'disappeared') in a total of six minutes.

"Six minutes," Donnie smirked, slightly panting. "That's an improvement."

 ** _Do You Wish To Continue? Or Do You Wish To End The Program?_**

"No. Continue the program, Chet. I can handle it."

 ** _Yes, Donatello._**

A holographic version of Lord Dregg and his Vreen drones flew in out of nowhere and attacked Donnie. The genius Turtle was getting slightly tired, but he continued to fight on and eventually defeated them.

 ** _Your Heart Rate Is Rising At An Alarming Rate. Do You Wish To-_**

"Chet," he wiped the sweat off his forehead, "don't you _dare_ stop. Go ahead and load the final enemy."

 _ **Yes, Donatello.**_

He then heard a stomping sound from behind him and faced his adversary: the Super Shredder. The monster sneered at him and extended his blades.

"Your move, Turtle," he growled.

Donatello gripped his staff even tighter and glared at Shredder with his robotic red eyes.

"Okay," he said in a low voice.

He suddenly threw his staff aside and his right robotic arm transformed into a gun. He aimed at Shredder's blue beating heart and fired. The second the bullet hit the target, the hologram disappeared.

"Bang," he murmured. "You're dead."

"Dude, that was too easy."

Donnie's heart stopped and he visibly flinched.

 _No way..._

He slowly turned his head in the direction of the familiar voice.

A holographic version of Michelangelo was leaning against a light pole with his arms crossed, a smile on his face.

"I mean, all you did was fire a gun at him," he shrugged his shoulders. "What, no awesome ninja moves?" He karate-chopped the air to emphasize the point.

Donnie stared at him for a moment, before he closed his eyes and sighed heavily. "Chet, end program."

Chet didn't respond.

"Chet! End the program right now!"

"What's the matter, D?" Mikey started to walk toward him. "Too chicken to spar with the Great Mikester?"

 _BANG!_

A bullet went right through the hologram, but for some reason, he didn't disappear. Mikey looked at Donnie in shock. The cyborg Turtle tried firing at him again. But he still wouldn't go away.

 _What is this?_

Mikey raised an invisible eyebrow at him before he suddenly clutched his chest and cried out in "pain". "Oh! You've got me! Ugh...I'm dying...I'm dying." He leaned against the pole and pretended to be dying. Then he looked back at Donnie and chuckled.

Donnie was _not_ amused at all. He only continued to glare hatefully at this hologram of his late little brother. "Why don't you just disappear already?"

Mikey looked geniunely hurt. "Aw, come on, Donnie! I just wanna have a chat with my favorite genius brother!"

"You are _not_ my brother," Donnie growled. "You're not even _real_. Michelangelo died thirty years ago."

"Oh, so I guess that means...I'm a _ghost_ ," Mikey wiggled his fingers and said the last word in a spooky voice.

Donnie shook his head and sighed exasperatedly. "There's no such thing as ghosts. This is merely a malfunction in the program, which I will fix later today."

"You know what your problem is, D?" Mikey walked to where Donnie stood. "You think with your brain too much."

"What does that even mean?" Donnie scoffed. He couldn't believe that he was having a conversation with a hologram.

"You need to think with your heart more," Mikey pointed to his own chest and smiled sadly at him. "I mean, you think that everything can be proved and explained by science. And according to science, I shouldn't even be standing here and talking to you right now. 'Cause I'm dead, right? Well, I guess there are just some things in life that _can't_ be explained by science, huh?"

"If you're trying to convince me that you're Mikey's spirit," Donnie turned his back to him and crossed his arms, "then you can just forget it."

He felt a pair of smaller arms wrap around him and a face leaning against the carapace of his shell.

"Donnie," he heard Mikey say softly.

Donnie jerked out of Mikey's arms. "STOP IT!" he screamed and gripped the sides of his head.

"GET OUT OF MY SIMULATION!"

 _"B Team is go!"_

 _"Don't call us that."_

"GET OUT OF MY HEAD!"

 _"No, please. Mikey..."_

 _"Bye, guys. I love..."_

 **"AND GET OUT OF MY _LIFE_!"**

There was complete silence for a while, before Mikey spoke in a quiet voice. "But I don't _want_ to leave. 'Cause I love you, bro."

"..." Donnie remained silent.

"I'm worried about you, Donnie. All you've been doing lately is work, work, and more work. Haven't you heard that saying, 'All work and no play makes...uh...Bob...a boring guy'? I mean, seriously, dude, when was the last time you had a slice of _pizza_?"

"..."

"We have to make things right again. You guys need to go see Master Splinter and forgive him before it's too late. Please, Donnie?"

"...I won't say it again. _**Leave**."_

As soon as he said those words, the entire holographic city began to fade away. Donnie turned around in time to see Mikey looking at him sadly, a single tear rolling down his freckled cheek.

And then he disappeared along with the city.

 _ **Training Simulation Terminated.**_

"Chet," Donnie picked up his staff and put it back in his belt, "remind me to fix the bug in the training program."

 _ **Bug?**_

"Yes, the malfunction in the system."

 _ **My Sensors Do Not Detect Any Problems Within The Training Simulation.**_

"...No, there's a problem, and I will fix it. I always do."

 _ **Donatello, Your Cybernetic Eyes Are Leaking.**_

Donnie reached up to touch his cheek and felt something wet. He pulled his fingers away and saw that there was oil on them.

"Huh. Guess I need to fix my eyes, too."

 **So Korea will be airing the final two episodes of season 4 this weekend. I've got a BAD feeling about this, guys...**

 **Hold me :(**


End file.
